Continuing the not-so-sincere tribute to Mitch Miller, here's "SING ALONG, SING ALONG, SING ALONG."
Dr. Marigold's Prescription was, as the name suggests, a vintage pop group (1969-1971 the peak years), and not such a trivial one (though you'd never know it from hearing this forcefully cheery novelty).
On this 1970 single lead vocalist Fred Radley's in Dr. John muppet mode, and Dr. Marigold's prescription happy-drugs have clearly kicked in. Fred offers up a quasi-Southern yet British-skiffle voice that will make you clap yo' hainz in spite o' yo'self and ya mott jus' seenga lawng. But on more serious material, he was more like Dr. Hook's Dennis Locorriere trying to be Barry Gibb. At least, if you judge the Brit by the title track of the Marble Arch album "Pictures of Life" (1969), or listen to his decent cover of Bob Dylan's "I Threw It All Away."
In other words, there's no reason to boo Radley, or his bandmates Alan and Bill French and drummer Dave Morris. (Only Radley remains active…the others are now retired). Their brand of medicine was fine for the times, and it doesn't hold up too badly these days, if you can locate the albums and singles. They had the chops back in the day to be backing Billy Fury and Madeline Bell among others, and get some tour action all over the world (they backed the Walker Brothers in America, and for some reason had a #1 hit single in South Africa). So…sing along, sing along, sing along.
SING ALONG WITH…DR. MARIGOLD'S PRESCRIPTION
4 comments:
Hey i am suuper boy
It is Alan Radley, Dave Morris, Alan French and Bill Friend. not Bill French. Why does everyone get it wrong. Fantastic group that should have been recognised more in the 60's and 70's
Thanks..."why does everyone get it wrong..."
Well, that's the Internet. One "source authority" publishes a "fact," and a dozen other websites pick up on it without doing any research.
And, um, some bloggers end up repeating what they think is accurate!
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